Letters: California's children living in poverty

CORONA DEL MAR, Bill Cool: Daniel Weintraub's article on the poor children in California paints a bleak, disheartening picture of the future for many of our kids [“(Poor) children are future,” State, July 14]. However, the fact that 23 percent of California's children live in poverty is, sadly, not surprising.

This high percentage is the direct result of federal legislation. The federal government has increased the number of immigrants to fourfold the traditional numbers.

A large number of these immigrants are poorly educated, unskilled laborers. California normally has a higher poverty rate than the rest of the country since we typically receive one-fourth of all the immigrants – both legal and illegal.

We could dramatically reduce the nation's poverty by simply reducing the number of incoming poor immigrants. So what is Congress contemplating? The recent Senate bill doubles the number of immigrants.

Both senators Barbara Boxer and Dianne Feinstein voted for this bill and in doing so, voted to increase the poverty rate. Expanding the number of destitute children is apparently less important to them than accommodating special-interest groups that will help them get reelected.

Politics as usual.

Glorifying terror?

Rick McKee / Cagle Cartoons

NEWPORT BEACH, Rob Macfarlane: The photograph of Boston bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev on the cover of Rolling Stone magazine is child's play compared to the picture of Osama bin Laden on the cover of Time magazine.

Isn't bin Laden a greater image of "evil" than Tsarnaev?

A grand total of three people died in Boston compared to 3,000 on 9/11.

Where was the same level of public outcry when Time magazine published its bin Laden cover?

Targeting veterans

MISSION VIEJO, Bill Ring: "Outrageous" is the first word that comes to mind when I read the article, "Depriving veterans' right to bear arms" [Opinion, July 18].

Under whose authority has this policy come about? What gives any bureaucrat the right to deny one of our precious personal rights, by some edict and not through a judge? The very group of people that during the younger years of their lives were placed into harm's way to protect our rights are now denied due process, another personal right, because they are deemed incapable of handling their Veterans Affairs benefit payment.

To add further insult, the Senate, although it knows of this problem and acknowledges it, can't muster the votes to change it. Is it that our current administration fears veterans because, unlike many politicians, veterans take their pledge to "defend the Constitution" seriously?

I agree with the article's writer that if being unable to handle finances is a criterion, then most of Congress should be in the same boat.

Faith's transgressions

FULLERTON, David Shichor: The Register's Mona Shadia wrote about the Muslim holiday Ramadan ["Beyond the veil," Faith & Values, July 15], where she explained that, "There's a philosophical rule in Islam: Your heart and mind must be clear of any malice or negativity, especially about other people."

I don't have any doubt about Shadia's sincerity in following this rule. Unfortunately, in several Muslim countries, including Shadia's native Egypt, this rule is openly violated.

For years now, including during Ramadan, the peak of television viewership coincided with featuring the most virulent anti-Semitic programs.

This year a new program called "Khaiber" celebrates the Muslim victory in 629 over the Jews of Khaiber in today's Saudi Arabia. According to historical sources, thousands of Jews were executed, including women and children. The Arab television station Al Jazeera explained that Muslims always raise the name "Khaiber," "because it constitutes a memory of a harsh defeat for the Jews who lived in the Arabian Peninsula during the time of the prophet."

I hope that after the turbulence in the Muslim world settles, the philosophical rule that Shadia follows also will be observed by her fellow believers.

Edison's excess

LAKE FOREST, Jim Richert: Thank you for the OC Watchdog report, "Edison payroll is top heavy" [Local, July 2], regarding Southern California Edison's substantial business expenses of almost $11 million for various corporate "outreach entertainment" events, the 47 employees who earned more than $250,000 in total compensation (an increase of 15 over the previous year) and the payment of $147 million in bonuses, funded mostly by all of us who pay Edison for our electricity and their substantial overhead.

The public should be very concerned considering that Edison has double-digit rate increases in the next couple of years. This is to be expected by mostly autonomous organizations that lack effective public oversight and simply pass their costs on to ratepayers, including the many water districts with their pending rate increases.

Each of the water, vector control, community college and other special districts have their own boards and other duplicated management positions that support a relatively small population, resulting in excessive costs that are passed on to ratepayers with notice given in very small print in their monthly bills.

This is a situation calling for real leadership by local government to implement change and for a grand jury investigation as to how costs to ratepayers can be reduced by combining or eliminating some of these special districts.

Fixation with race

MISSION VIEJO, Jim Schneiderman: In David Whiting's column, "Trial verdict reveals fissures" [Front Page, July 19], UCI Vice Chancellor Thomas Parham purports to know that mall security guards are following him due to his skin color. This ability to read the minds of others could be put to good use if the chancellor would now read the minds of the youth who are running wild in the streets of Hollywood.

Rather than view hardworking security guards as perpetuators of racial stereotypes, I would like to read about his efforts to affect the behavior of the thugs and scofflaws who think that destroying the property of others will advance their call for justice over the George Zimmerman case. Perhaps then would we approach the dream of a "just community."

Unlike him, I appreciate the lean toward what would be considered common and moral sense in your editorials and the contrast of Opinion letters.

That he thinks "an open mind is a rare thing in Orange County" only tells me that he is not a student of tolerance, and he might be better suited to reading one of the many newspapers where he only gets news and opinions with a liberal slant.

The Register is one of the best and most fair papers I have had the pleasure of reading for many years. Keep up the good work, and don't change a thing.

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